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Our penchant for cranking up the music on our beloved iPods has raised concern from the European Commission, a governmental body worried about how much we love loud music and how it could ultimately damage the health of our hearing.

According to a report this morning from MacWorld, the European Commission is calling for iPod listening limits to be established in order to ensure a safe level of listening that ideally will place maximum volume beneath 85 decibels.

According to BBC One's Politics Show, the commission want the default maximum setting to be set at 85 decibels. Users would still be able to override these settings to reach a top limit of 100 decibels the report said.

Earlier this year, the European Commission first began addressing the "potential dangers of listening to music at high volumes on earphones." And although the original concern was drowned out by other issues proving higher priorities, the governmental body is once again harping on iPod listening limits.

The commission will begin a two-month consultation of all EU standardization bodies in January 2010, concerning the proposals, with a final agreement expected in the spring.

Although the concern is warranted (especially given the evidence that loud music can, in fact, cause long term damage), it's most likely that the European Commission's actions will ultimately be limited in actually curtailing the maximum volume levels of the iPod. What is much more likely to result is a greater campaign to raise the awareness of the potential health-related problems that could result from listening to music at a volume above a particular threshold.

"There are up to 10 million Europeans, mainly young people, who are at risk of losing their hearing permanently in the next five years due to their personal listening habits," warned Stephen Russell of the European consumer lobby ANEC.

120 decibels, a level not much higher than that which many listen to their music, is tantamount to the noise made when a jet takes off.